My Interview With Authors On The Air

 The wonderfully energetic Ann White and Pam Stack interview yours truly on their on-air podcast, Authors On The Air on  Blog Talk Radio.  Check it out.

The Devil's Right Hand (Jack Keller) eBook is FREE! Today Only...

Amazon.com: The Devil's Right Hand (Jack Keller) eBook: J.D. Rhoades

"The book reads as though Stephen Hunter wrote an episode of Justified"- Dana King

"Rhoades slaps this supercharged crime-fiction debut into overdrive in the first paragraph and never lets up through nearly 300 pages of non-stop action."--Booklist (starred review)


"A fine example of redneck noir. Nicely crafted…if you hail from certain dark corners of the sunny South, it's the next best thing to a trip home."--Washington Post


"Enjoyable…Rhoades seems to have observed and remembered all the seedy details of life outside the centers of urban and suburban life as we know it. Nobody could totally invent this stuff."--Chicago Tribune


"The Devil's Right Hand blasts right out of the chute and keeps up the pace until the final paragraph. Steeped in Southern sense of place, the reader can feel the heat and humidity and smell the cordite hanging in the air. J.D. Rhoades writes action as well as anybody in the business, and bail bondsman Jack Keller is a winner."--C.J. Box, author of Trophy Hunt 


"Spare, tense and violent, this is a debut that will turn other writers green with envy. Jack Keller is a sure-fire star of the new generation of hard-boiled heroes."--Stephen Booth, author of Blind to the Bones


"Riveting as the rack of a sawn-off shotgun, The Devil's Right Hand is a novel of pace and power, locked and loaded from the start. Bail enforcer Jack Keller, a damaged gulf war veteran, moves the heart in unexpected ways. Keller's quarry Raymond, a drug dealer bent on revenge, pledges 'no more water, but the fire next time'--and it's the fire we get on almost every page of a book that is positively aflame with action. Let's hope that J.D. Rhoades and Jack Keller are due to deliver more of the fire and soon."--Ken Bruen, author of The Guards

Free LAWYERS (At Least For a Little While)

Thanks to everyone who made the recent promotion for THE DEVIL'S RIGHT HAND such a resounding success. So much so, that I'm now offering another e-book, LAWYERS, GUNS AND MONEY, FREE for the next day or so.

Andy Cole has a pretty good life. Oh, sure, he's got two ex-wives to support and maybe he's a little too fond of good bourbon, but he's got a thriving law practice and he's one of the movers and shakers in the town of Blainesville.

Then local crime boss Voit Fairgreen drops a bag full of cash on Andy's desk. Voit's brother Danny's been charged with murdering a troubled young barmaid, and Voit figures Andy's the kind of inside guy that can get Danny out of the jam.

That's where things start to unravel.

Someone in this town wants the truth buried, and Danny along with it. But Andy's discovering that Danny just may be innocent. And for someone like Andy, an innocent client is the worst thing in the world...

Will Andy Cole, the insider, a guy who's always gone along to get along, risk everything, including his own life and the life of the woman he loves, to get at the truth?

I don't like to pick favorites among my books, but if I did, LAWYERS, GUNS AND MONEY would be one of mine. I drew on a lot of my own experiences as a small town trial lawyer writing it (although my life's not nearly as interesting as Andy's) and some of the best lines are things I've actually heard. This book also got one of my absolute favorite Amazon reviews of all time, from Steve Malley, a fan from New Zealand:

I'm writing this review from the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquake. Long days of shoveling silt and shifting rubble are tiring as hell, but Lawyers Guns and Money still kept me up late, reading first by electric headlamp until the power was restored. I was so engrossed, I barely noticed the aftershocks!

Now THAT is a good review.

Lawyers Guns and Money is free till tomorrow night. Check it out.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004OYTU0O

A Romance Where Stuff Blows Up

Thanks to all the people who've helped me get the word out, THE DEVIL'S RIGHT HAND is in the top 100 FREE downloads for Amazon Kindle!

As reviewer K. Rose put it, THE DEVIL'S RIGHT HAND is  A perfect blend of action, vivid characterization, and just the right amount of romance.

And still FREE through Valentine's day! 


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004QTOED0

What the Hell, I'll Join In

EBooks for Breast Cancer Screening and Education:

John Scalzi's donating all his e-book profits from Subterranean Press between today and February 8, 2012 to Planned Parenthood. He says he'll direct that the donation go specifically toward their breast cancer screening and educational activities, to help replace the funding lost from the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Sounds like a good idea. I'll join in.

Profits from any of my e-books bought on Amazon, Nook or Smashwords between now and Wednesday the 8th go to Planned Parenthood, with the same proviso.

You know what to do.


And buy Scalzi's stuff too. He's a mensch. 

"A Book That Will Both Entertain and Challenge You"

Elizabeth A. White, All Purpose Monkey gives GALLOWS POLE a great review. Check it out!

Review: THE DEPUTY, by Victor Gischler

The Deputy by Victor Gischler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Part-time sheriff's Deputy Toby Sawyer gives new meaning to the word "hapless." He's given the simple task of keeping his eye on the body of a local tough who turns up murdered. Somehow, he manages to botch even that. His efforts to set his mistake right send him lurching from one life-threatening situation to another, uncovering more and more secrets and corruption with every lurch.

Let's face it, Jack Reacher this guy ain't. But Victor Gischler keeps the action moving so fast, and makes the bad guys so bad, that you end up pulling for the poor schmuck with the tin badge pinned to his Weezer t-shirt.

Fast-paced, tightly plotted, and darkly funny, this is Gischler's best book since his debut, GUN MONKEYS.

View all my reviews

Praise for GALLOWS POLE From Robert Gregory Browne

"J.D. Rhoades's Gallows Pole gets the adrenalin pumping from the very first page. Rhoades not only gives us a tight, suspenseful plot, his prose style is economic and full of quiet confidence, and you know you're in good hands the moment you start reading."

-Robert Gregory Browne, author of THE PARADISE PROPHECY , which was one of my own favorite books from this year.

Thanks, Rob!

DEAD OF WINTER is Live!

Dead of Winter: Chilling New Tales of Crime

"Southern noir thriller writer J.D. Rhoades weighs in with the unforgettable I’ll Be Home for Christmas, a holiday tale that will have you turning on all the lights before you enter your house and checking the bottom of your Christmas stocking for a concealed .38."
That's just one of the great stories in this new anthology that also features Chaz McGee (aka Katy Munger), Taffy Cannon, Rory Tate (aka Lise McLendon), Gary Phillips, Brynn Bonner, Sarah Shaber and Kate Flora.

GALLOWS POLE Goes Live!

GALLOWS POLE,  my third full-length e-published novel, is now live for Kindle, and for other formats on Smashwords. NOOK coming soon!

Someone is killing entire families, forcing fathers to hang their wives and children before taking their own lives. How does the killer do it? And what is the meaning of the small iron horse the killer leaves at every murder scene? FBI agent Melissa Saxon and her handpicked team are racing against time to solve the mystery before more families die.

Former anti-terrorist operative Colonel Mark Bishop and the survivors of his command think they know. One of their own, a stone killer who calls himself the Hangman, has come out to play, and he's trying to draw out not only Bishop, but his former comrades—the elite anti-terrorist team known as Iron Horse.

Only the Horsemen can stop one of their own. But the team is disbanded, the survivors scattered. Bishop himself is tormented by guilt for the things he had to do to keep one of his men from suffering an agonizing death. Their adversary is not only a skilled assassin, but a master at creating fear. Behind the scenes, shadowy and powerful figures pursue their own plans for Bishop and the Hangman.

Mark Bishop, Melissa Saxon, and the last of the Iron Horsemen will have to use all their courage and every resource, including an array of high-tech weapons, to stop the Hangman. What they have to do will put everything they ever believed in to the ultimate test and push Bishop to the edge of sanity.


Hope you like it! if you do, please tell all your friends by reviewing, "liking" on FB or Amazon,  or recommending. Word of mouth is my best advertising.  

GALLOWS POLE COVER

The ever-talented Jeroen ten Berge hits another one out of the park with his cover for my upcoming e-release GALLOWS POLE. It's a bit of a different look from my earlier e-books, but then, it's a somewhat different book than I've done before. Stay tuned....

DEAD OF WINTER: Homicide For The Holidays

Recently I've joined a cadre of several of my favorite authors under the name of the Thalia Press Author's Co-Op. We're helping each other get our backlists up as e-books, and promoting new, independently published material as well. We've got a group project coming up called DEAD OF WINTER, featuring new, winter themed short stories by Chaz McGee (aka Katy Munger), Gary Phillips, Sarah Shaber, and others.

My own contribution, "I'll Be Home For Christmas," features Gibson County Chief Deputy Tim Buckthorn, who was one of my favorite characters in my critically acclaimed novel BREAKING COVER. My friend David Terrenoire observed once that the book was as much Buckthorn's story as it was Tony Wolf's, and he was right. I've been wanting to use Tim in a story for a while, and this was my chance.

The book's tentatively set for release on November 15th...I'll keep you posted.

Graveyard Tales

 
New for Kindle and Nook: "The Caretaker." Two short stories from the graveyard, just in time for Hallowe'en!

In "The Caretaker," William Cain doesn't know why only he can see the new arrivals in his cemetery, or why they tell him their stories--but he knows how to take care of their unfinished business. "Spadework" is a previously published tale of a father's revenge.

Cover by David Terrenoire.

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005ZT6PPU

Nook:  http://search.barnesandnoble.com/books/e/2940013246478

Review: CHOKE ON YOUR LIES, Anthony Neil Smith

Choke on Your Lies by Anthony Neil Smith
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Anthony Neil Smith set his best book yet in one of the country's best known cesspools of corruption and wickedness: academia. There's enough viciousness, backstabbing and sexual depravity among Smith's small-college faculty to make Caligula look like an episode of The Little Rascals.

The last decent man in this pit of vipers is Mick Thooft, a good guy but, apparently, a wretchedly bad poet. When Mick discovers his wife's infidelity and her attempt to defraud him out of the marital home, he turns to his friend Octavia, a big woman with a bigger intellect and a capacity for malice that dwarfs both. Octavia pronounces "let's punish the bitch," and proceeds to use her considerable wealth to make that happen. But even Octavia's sheer meanness may not be a match for the evil mind of the antagonist pulling the strings.

Smith pulls off one of the hardest tricks in all of writing: he fascinates you with characters who, for the most part, are completely unlikable. Mick's such a wimp you just want to pick him up and shake him, the only sane reaction to Octavia would be to flee from her screaming in terror, and the rest of the cast (with only a couple of minor exceptions) range from slightly creepy to downright demonic. And yet, you can't look away.

Great book.


View all my reviews

Review: IRREGULAR CREATURES, Chuck Wendig

Irregular Creatures by Chuck Wendig

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I've been a fan of "Terrible Minds", Chuck Wendig's high-energy and hilariously profane writing blog, for a while now. So when I finally got my very own Kindle, this was one of my first purchases.

Irregular Creatures is a small collection of short stories in what I'd call the modern fantasy/horror genres. Some of them are quite strange, some are downright nasty, all of them are great fun to read. Wending combines the wild imagination of a Neil Gaiman, the squicky sensibility of a Clive Barker, and the direct, blunt-object-to-the-skull prose style of a young Harlan Ellison. Absolutely worth the download.


View all my reviews

Review: BECOMING QUINN, by Brett Battles

Becoming Quinn - A Jonathan Quinn Novella by Brett Battles

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


One of the coolest things about the e-book revolution is that it's provided more openings for the shorter literary forms, like the short story and the novella. I've always enjoyed the novella form. It's a quick read, but there's more time to develop character and more chances to crank up the suspense than you can usually found in the short story.

Becoming Quinn is the novella done right. It's short, tightly written, full of action, but at the same time it gives you the opportunity to really get to know and to care about the main character as he makes his journey from idealistic cop Jake Oliver to become the hard-edged "cleaner" Jonathan Quinn.

Brett Battles also has the one indispensable gift for a thriller writer: he makes events that you would normally find absurd seem not only possible, but inevitable.

This book's a lot of fun. Check it out.



View all my reviews

Ahh, There We Go... Kindle Version of BREAKING COVER Is Now Live

Right here....

In case you'd forgotten, Bill Ott from Booklist had this to say:

Rhoades takes a break from his Keller series, featuring the Gulf War–haunted bounty hunter (Safe and Sound, 2007), with a stand-alone thriller starring rogue FBI agent Tony Wolf. Forced to break cover after rescuing two abducted children, Wolf—officially dead but living under the radar in rural North Carolina—suddenly finds himself on the run from both his former colleagues in the bureau (including his wife) and, more seriously, from the gang of drug-dealing bikers he infiltrated in his last FBI assignment. Tired of running from trouble, Wolf decides to go on the offense: take down the bikers, and expose the mole in the FBI power structure who is feeding the bikers information. If thriller fans are thinking Lee Child here, they’re right on target. Like Child, Rhoades dishes out one airtight action scene after another, mixing in just enough character-building moments and holding our interest in a full cast of nicely developed supporting players. All that, and a Sam Peckinpah–like bloody, bravura finale that will leave even icy-veined thriller fans panting for breath.

Why You Might Consider Buying a Nook Today

Because my critically acclaimed title BREAKING COVER is now available for Nook. (The Kindle version is loaded but not yet up on the Amazon site.)

Here's what Paul Goat Allen of the Chicago Tribune had to say about the print version:

After penning three "redneck noir" novels featuring North Carolina bail bondsman Jack Keller, J.D. Rhoades has written a stand-alone story that could quite possibly be the perfectly crafted hard-edged thriller. With a plot that features a rogue undercover FBI agent, a sadistic outlaw motorcycle gang that controls a network of backwoods meth labs and a harem of hillbilly strippers, an overly ambitious female television reporter, and a much-publicized kidnapping case involving two young brothers, what more could a discerning crime fiction reader hope for?

"Breaking Cover" is nothing short of masterful on numerous levels: Rhoades' singular ability to make every character—even peripheral ones—unique, realistic and intriguing; his innate sense of narrative tempo, which is pedal-to-the-metal throughout thanks in no small part to a staccato writing style and succinct chapters all ending with cliffhangers of varying degrees; and, lastly, the author's over-the-top, pulp fiction-inspired audaciousness, which will have readers saying to themselves, "I can't believe that just happened...."

Simply put, "Breaking Cover" is destined to become a crime fiction cult classic—leather biker jacket, submachine gun and crystal meth not included.

Redneck Noir Returns!

Safe and Sound, the award-winning third book in the Jack Keller series, returns as an eBook at Amazon.

If you missed it the first time, that's sad. Miss it again, and it's a damn tragedy.

SAFE AND SOUND: Two Out of Three Ain't Bad

For some reason, the Kindle version of SAFE AND SOUND, the third Jack Keller novel, is taking forever to go live on Amazon, but the version for Nook and other e-book readers has been live for a couple days.